MY

CAPSTONE
By Yuzhen Zhu
How Early Bilingualism
Affects Children
 Table of contents
01 02 03
Introduction Survey Interview
An introduction to A survey about how A closer look at the life of
different kinds of bilingualism relates to bilinguals and how they feel
bilingualism and why I people’s life about bilingualism
chose this question
04 05
The Pros of Bilingualism The Cons of Bilingualism
How bilingualism help children How bilingualism may cause troubles
develop special skills and to daily life
advantages
 Table of contents
06
Bilingualism &
Biculturalism
How bilingualism affect children on
their worldviews
07
Bilingual Education
How children become bilingual &
Current bilingual education
 01
Introduction
What is bilingualism?
 Introduction to Bilingualism

• Bilingualism refers to the coexistence of more than one language

system within an individual. In other words, it is one’s ability to
use two languages in daily life.
Simultaneous and Sequential Bilingualism

• Simultaneous Bilingualism refers to • Sequential Bilingualism refers to

bilingualism that happens when a bilingualism that takes place in people
child learns two language from birth. who learn their second language later
in life.

• This research is especially focused on simultaneous bilingualism but not

sequentially bilingualism.
 Multilingualism in Canada

• Across Canada, 18 % of • The Official Languages Act was

children used at least two
languages at home, which rose
to more than 25 % in large
cities and the Canadian
territories.
adopted in 1969, making
English and French Canada’s
official languages.
 Why am I interested in this topic?
My Story

●I am not a native English speaker and picked up English as a foreign language through academic
education. When I was in elementary school, I noticed that some of my classmates showed an
advantage when learning a second language (English). It’s as if they were born with the ability to
arrange well-structured English sentences with perfect grammar even if English is not their mother
tongue.

●After a closer look at their childhood, I found that their parents had them interacting with native
English speakers or foreign tutors at an early age before kindergarten so as to make their children
exposed in English more.
 02
Survey
A report on the daily use of languages of bilingual
students in our school
What the Survey is about
I ask bilingual students in our school about their daily language
use as well as how much they have noticed bilingualism has
changed their lives.
 Questions on the Survey
1) What are the two languages you speak?
2) Which language(s) do you use at school?
3) Which language(s) do you use at home?
4) Are you able to read and write both languages? If yes, how did you learn to read and write the
two languages?
 Questions on the Survey
1) How often do you mix words from different languages in one sentence?
2) Did you ever notice any changes on your voice when you switch languages?
3) Which of these profits do you think bilingualism brings you?
4) Which of these troubles have you encountered in your daily life?
5) Do you identify yourself as bicultural?
6) The idea of linguistic relativity suggests that the structure of a language influences its speakers'
worldview or cognition. Do you think both of the languages shaped or determined your
perceptions of the world? If yes, Which language impacts your worldview more?
7) Do you find learning languages helpful when knowing about different cultures?
8) Do you think it's essential to maintain language diversity in a country?
 03
Interview
● How did you become bilingual?
● I became bilingual from my parents. When I leaned to speak, my father only spoke in English to
me and my mother only spoke in French to me. Then, I went to a francophone school to be
immersed in French learning.

● What are some most important effects that bilingualism brings to your life?
● Some important effects of being bilingual are job opportunities. I have earned positions such as
being an ISP-EA, my role now, because I speak 2 languages.
● It is also helpful when I travel to French speaking places. It allows me to understand my
surroundings. It also provides me with knowledge of another culture and gives me perspectives I
wouldn't otherwise have.
● If you were to have children in the future, would you let them be bilingual? Why or why not?
● If I have children in the future I would teach them French. It is a part of my culture and it is so
beneficial to learn. In Canada it is one of our official languages and so it would be useful to learn
here. If possible, I would enroll my children in other languages to learn too.
 Advantages of
03 Bilingualism
 7%

10%

7%
45%

31%

I have advantages in language learning

I have great communication skills.
I have strong verbal creativity.
I am good at managing conflicting attentional demands.
other
Bilinguals can speak two
languages.
Being able to speak two languages enables them
to have better communication skills when
either socializing or at work.
Bilingual children can learn two
languages more easily.
 How do children learn languages?

Children are born with certain environmental advantages when it

comes to learning languages that can be lost when they grow older.
Unlike older children and adults, children aren’t formally instructed in
language. Instead, they learn by being immersed in multilingual
environments and passively “absorbing” the language through contact.
 Are bilingual children confused ?

Code Mixing
Code mixing refers to the behaviour when people use words from two
languages in one sentence. This behaviour is often taken as an evidence
to show that bilingual children are confused.
 Are bilingual children confused ?
• No!

• One reason some children code mix is that it happens frequently in their language
communities—children are just doing what they hear adults around them do.
• A second reason is that, just like young monolinguals, young bilinguals are sometimes limited
in their linguistic resources. bilingual children also use their limited vocabularies
resourcefully. If a bilingual child does not know or cannot quickly retrieve the appropriate
word in one language, they might borrow the word from the other language.
Bilingual
Advantage in
Executive Control
• Studies have shown that bilinguals have certain
advantages in terms of executive functions.

• Executive Function : functions in our brain such as

planning, working memory, inhibition, mental
flexibility, as well as the initiation and monitoring of action.
 Why?
● This is because bilinguals are always practicing executive control through their lives. As they
speak, both of the languages are active in their brain, meaning that they have to select one
language to use while inhibiting another all the time. Being in such situation is actually a kind
of practice for the brain.
 A more developed sense of justice?
● Some scientists suggested that bilinguals, especially those who identify themselves as
bicultural, tend to have good capacity to diverse culture, which turns out to be a great sense
of social justice.
 Disadvantages of
04 Bilingualism
 7%

15%

I mix up languages
41% I find it hard to switch
languages.
I don’t feel belonging to the
7% community I live in.
I struggle to make friends.
I have a smaller vocabulary.
other

15%

15%
 Language Switching
7

What is code switching? 6

5
It refers to the shifting from one
language to another within a 4
single conversation or even a
3
sentence.
2

0
s y y r
ay fte
n es l el e
w O it m na ar ev
Al e io R N
ry s
V e
S om c ca
O
 Language Switching
Difficulties with
switching languages
• Bilinguals sometimes have difficulties switching languages. This is because they have to
work very hard to inhibit one language. For example when a bilingual person speaks to
another bilingual person who speaks the same languages, it is the easiest mode of
conversation because they can use both of the languages in whatever ways they want to.
But when speaking to a monolingual person, they must work hard to inhibit one language
but to use the other one.
A Smaller
Vocabulary?
• Studies often report that bilingual participants
possess a smaller vocabulary than
monolinguals, especially in research with
children.
 7%

15%

I mix up languages
41% I find it hard to switch
languages.
I don’t feel belonging to the
7% community I live in.
I struggle to make friends.
I have a smaller vocabulary.
other

15%

15%
A Smaller
Vocabulary?
• This is because bilingual kids use the same amount of time monolingual children
spend on learning their first language to learn two languages. It is also likely that
some words occur in a context in which they only use one of their languages.
• In this sense, their vocabulary of a single language may be smaller, yet the total
vocabulary is likely to be larger comparing to their monolingual peers.
 FUN
FACT!
 Maybe
12%
Does your voice
No
6%
change when you
switch languages?
82% bilinguals said YES!

Yes
82%
Why?
● Each language has its own set of phonemes (distinct units of sound) and
phonological rules, which can influence the way we produce sounds.

● If we learn a second language later in life, we are usually trying to use the
sounds system of our first language for our second language, which is why
we end up having an accent.

● So when bilinguals switch languages, they actually change their way of

producing sounds.
 Bilingualism &
06 Biculturalism
How does bilingualism lead to biculturalism?
Prefer not
to answer
24%
What is
Yes
41% Biculturalism?
Biculturalism is when one person belongs to
two different cultures.

No
35%
 Linguistic Relativity
● The idea of linguistic relativity, also known as Disagree
the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, is a principle suggesting Neutural4%
8% Strongly
that the structure of a language influences its
agree
speakers' worldview or cognition, and thus individuals' 33%
languages determine or shape their perceptions of the
world.

● Language is a vital part of culture. Culture shapes the

language, and the language further influences the
speaker’s cultural identity.
Agree
● In this case, all early bilinguals can be identified as 54%
bicultural.
07 Bilingual Education
How to raise a bilingual child?
At Home & at School
● Bilingual kids do not only grow up in bilingual families
where their parents speak different languages, but can also
be raised by monolingual families through bilingual
education.
● The earlier a child is exposed to a language, the more easily
they can pick up the language. There are multiple ways to
raise a bilingual child, and it depends on one’s family
situation when depending which way to use.
 1. OPOL
• OPOL seems to be the most popular
method when raising a bilingual child and is
as simple as it sounds; one person, one
language. Each person speaks to the child in
the same language consistently and do not
speak the other language as to not confuse
the child.
Advantages:
• Each person is speaking to the child is
speaking in their own mother tongue with
a native accent therefore they will pick up
the language to a native level.
Disadvantages:
• If the minority language is spoken by a
parent who is not the primary caregiver
they may not get as much exposure to it
and it may become a passive language
where they understand what is being said
but reply in the majority language.
 2. MLAH
● In this scenario the
minority language is spoken at home between both
the parents and children, however out in the
community and at school, the children will speak the
second language.

● Advantages: The whole family can speak one

language together

● Disadvantages: Children may have less exposure to

the community language and might be a little behind
other peers when starting school.
 What is bilingual education?
● Bilingual education is defined as a program at elementary or secondary school where languages
are used as media for content instruction.

learned by myself
17% taught by parents
28%

learned at school
55%
Language Immersion Programs
● Language immersion, or simply immersion, is a
technique used in bilingual language education in
which two languages are used for instruction in a
variety of topics, including math, science, or social
studies.
 French Immersion Program in BSS
● Brookswood congratulated its very first French Immersion grad class way back in 1986. Our
program is stronger than ever today, with approximately 250 students enrolled each year.
● French Immersion students do a portion of their high school courses entirely in French. They sit a
provincial exam at the end of their grade 12 year and also write the DELF exam which gives them
a prestigious, internationally recognized certificate attesting to their proficiency in French.
 Thanks!
Do you have any questions?

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